Need a self esteem boost? Head to Facebook to pity your friends

NEED a self esteem boost? Head to Facebook to pity your friends

One of the biggest appeals of social networking is comparing ourselves to less fortunate friends [GETTY]

Feeling grumpy? Then head to Facebook or Twitter and find someone worse off than you.

Researchers have discovered that people in a bad mood turn to social network sites and click on the profiles of people less attractive or successful than themselves.

The new study claims people mainly use social media to connect with other users who post positive and success-oriented updates.

But when people are in a negative mood, they start to show more interest in the less attractive, less successful people on their social media sites, said researchers at Ohio State University in the US.

One of the great appeals of social network sites is that they allow people to manage their moods by choosing who they want to compare themselves to

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick

The findings back previous studies that found people who spend a lot of time on Facebook tend to be more frustrated, angry and lonely, perhaps because of all the happy updates from friends that make them feel inadequate.

Benjamin Johnson, a co-author of the study, said: "People have the ability to manage how they use social media.

"Generally, most of us look for the positive on social media sites. But if you're feeling vulnerable, you'll look for people on Facebook who are having a bad day or who aren't as good at presenting themselves positively, just to make yourself feel better." The study was published in the science journal Computers in Human Behaviour.

Researchers studied 168 college students who were put in a good or bad mood by having them take a test on facial emotion recognition. Regardless of their answers, the students were randomly told their performance was "terrible" to put them in a bad mood or "excellent"(to boost their emotions.

Afterward, all participants were asked to review what they were told was a new social networking site called SocialLink. The overview page presented preview profiles of eight individuals, which the students could click on to read more.

The key to the study was that the eight profiles were designed to make the people profiled appear attractive and successful - or unattractive or unsuccessful.

Each profiled person was ranked on a scale of 0 to five on both career success - judged by the number of dollar signs next to their profile - and attractiveness (number of hearts).

Each profile had either half of a dollar sign (low career success) or 4 1/2 dollar signs (high career success). They had either one-half heart (low attractiveness) or 4 1/2 hearts (high attractiveness).

The researchers found that people tended to spend more time on the profiles of people who were rated as successful and attractive.

But participants who had been put in a negative mood spent significantly more time than others browsing the profiles of people who had been rated as unsuccessful and unattractive.

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, co-author of the study and a professor of communication, said: "If you need a self-esteem boost, you're going to look at people worse off than you.

"You're probably not going to be looking at the people who just got a great new job or just got married.

"One of the great appeals of social network sites is that they allow people to manage their moods by choosing who they want to compare themselves to."